A few months ago, I was invited to be part of Object Therapy, a research project to help us rethink our consumption patterns and re-evaluate the broken objects that surround us.

Developed in collaboration with Dr. Guy Keulemans of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and Niklavs Rubenis of the Australian National University (ANU); the project is an investigation into the culture of ‘transformative’ repair as practiced by local, interstate and international artists and designers.

The exhibition featured 30 broken or damaged objects (including one human!) that have undergone therapy – treated and ‘creatively’ repaired by a designer or artist.

Here are some process shots from my repair. ( I did two!) The first was a broken glass ring belonging to Skye. She purchased the ring while living in London back in 2010. She accidently chipped the ring one day. Although there was not monetary value to the ring, she could not bring herself to throw it away.  I repaired the ring by creating a tension set sleeve in silver to bridge the gap and to protect the ring from further damage.

The second repair was a broken knitting needle belonging to Elizabeth. She was given the set of needles by her late grandmother when she was 6 years old who taught her how to knit. She had been using them for the past 35 years until one day, she accidently snapped it. A collaboration with Guy Keulemans, we encasing the broken needle inside a clear resin. Now Elizabeth is able to carry her memories and connection to her grandmother in a form of a wearable bracelet.

Last image by Lee Grant.

9k yellow gold earrings. This design celebrates the uniqueness of an individual. Each earring is cast directly from a specific grain of rice. Varying slightly in shape and texture, every pair is unique.

Credit: top image> ECLIPSE Pinch Bowls, designed by Christian Hall.

About a year and a half ago, I was appointed the position of Production Manager in the Metal Design Studio at the JamFactory Contemporary Craft and Design in Adelaide. JamFactory is a not-for-profit organisation that consists of 2 galleries, a retail space and various artists studios in the West-end of Adelaide’s CBD. First established in 1973, “The Jam”, as it’s affectionately referred to offers a 2 year post-tertiary Associate program designed to nurture the careers of talented artists, craftspeople and designers. There are 4 major studios within the facility including Glass, Furniture, Metal and Ceramic. Under the guidance of Creative Directors within each studios, the Associates gain various skills and knowledge by working collaboratively on projects. These projects include private and public commissions and “JamFactory Products”, being commercial products designed and produced within the organisation, then marketed through various national outlets. They also receive one-on-one mentorship with the Creative Directors to deveope their own artistic creation. These are submitted for review by the Creative Directors, the managers and peers to test their viability within the market place.

I was lucky enough to be appointed a position within the Metal Design Studio to facilitate the Associates in day-to-day activities, as well as having hands-on involvement in the jobs that came through the studio. Working 3 days a week for Jam, I was also given a workbench space to make my own work with full-time 24hour/7days a week access to the tools and equipment within the studio. Having been working in isolation of a private home studio for almost a decade, the range of machinery that I had access to, as well as the collaborative environment at the Jam was such an invigorating change for me.

Highlights…? There are so many. Apart from the awesome company I was thrown into the midst of, one of the biggest projects I got to work on was to redesign a donation box for the South Australian Museum. The design brief was to take notable elements from the museum’s extensive collection to come up with an exciting, new and interactive donation box that would be centrally situated in the museum’s foyer. The entire project took over 6 months, and here are some images of the Associates working on the design / prototype for the new donation box.

We developed several paper prototypes before constructing the final design in stainless steel. Various elements of the product was cut by both hand and laser and then welded together by hand. The drawings on the triangular tiles were hand drawn by Courtney Jackson, who took elements of various fossil found throughout the museum. These included the Ediacaran fossil that was discovered in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia and is considered to be one of the very first life forms on earth. Courtney translated these fossils into elegant dotted drawings which were chemically etched onto the mirrored stainless steel.

The etched triangles were chemically cleaned before carefully being bonded onto a rubber matting using a specialized adhesive. The mechanism underneath the triangles pushed the matting up and down, creating an undulating surface referencing the underwater sea bed (much of South Australia was underwater about 650 million years ago). The star of the donation box was the creation of a Plesiosaur out of metal parts, based on the Addyman Plesiosaur, an opalised fossil of an underwater dinosaur discovered in South Australia in 1968. One thing that’s cooler than a dinosaur fossil, is a fossil that’s almost entirely encrusted in natural opal!

The visitors were invited to turn the wheel on the side of the box. Watch it here in action. IMG_5564

So if you ever visit Adelaide, go check out the South Australian Museum and the Opalised plesiosaur. And while you’re there, head to the West-end and check out the JamFactory. The building is open to public 6 days a week, and you can do a self-guided tour through the various studios. It’s truly a unique organisation that supports both local and international artists and designers, and I’m all for that.

Photo credit: Tom Roschi (3 images above)

… After 2 x sliced fingers and 1 x blistered thumb: the end product. What is a fruitful day’s work without few scratches! I’m thinking of making a mini collection of pendants and earrings in line with this style. I’ve also just purchased some semi-precious stones which I want to incorporate into the endcap series. More making… coming up soon.

A few weekends ago, I gathered a fabulous team here in Adelaide to shoot some promo images for my up-coming jewellery collection. Here is a selection of my favorite shots from the day. The new collection will be available from the web store, as well as through a selected retail stores from early November.

Photographer: Phebe Rendulic
Styling: Kyoko Hashimoto / Phebe Rendulic
Hair / Make-up: JingJing Hang
Assistant: Vanessa Burton
Model: Courtney Jackson

A range of Double Scoop Rings from The End Cap Project, arriving shortly!

Powder coated components… and shots of colour!

The new collection has stemmed from my obsession with the humble “endcaps”. You can follow some of the processes at my other blog, The Endcap Project. It has certainly taken on a life of it’s own, and I’m really excited that I can finally share the entire collection with you shortly. Also…I am on Instagram! You can follow me and my instant snaps @ capital____k

These are some new designs coming out of my new venture. I will put these up in my webshop for purchase shortly.